By Nyus Alfred Communications Officer, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

Monday, August 22, 2022 — The Director General of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Dr. Didacus Jules, called for the institutional strengthening of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), as he presented during the CELAC-CAF International Seminar, held in Buenos Aires Argentina on August 18th 2022. The Seminar was held under the theme “Latin America an the Caribeean, the future of integration”

The discussions at the seminar focused on opportunities for integration within the CELAC space, and the role of the organisation on the global stage. In his remarks, Dr. Jules provided an assessment of CELAC’s current realities, describing the challenges presented by the current international context as ‘urgent’. According to Dr. Jules, 

‘’We find ourselves at this inflection point today with globalization in tatters, with regionalization becoming increasingly an amphitheater of both convergence of common interest and contestation for better advantage.

In the face of the multidimensional crises confronting us in this historical moment, it is urgent that we who are committed to CELAC revisit and sharpen our sense of PURPOSE ..our WHY must be clear enough that it justifies the effort and focuses the agenda.’’

In his assessment, the Director General stated that the process of determining a more clinical, decisive, and incisive purpose for ‘CELAC must be grounded and informed by an understanding of history  and must define the contours of the integration ambition that will drive it and the practical expressions of that ambition that will impact the trajectory of common good of all participating societies.’

Dr. Jules concluded by offering recommendations on behalf of the OECS. These included the institutional strengthening of CELAC, an increase in the political muscle of CELAC and its members, and the avoidance of the bureaucratic processes that hinder progress within the space.